Are men from Mars and women from Venus when it comes to green marketing?

Apparently yes! Green marketing to women takes a different approach than green marketing to men.

Check out this interesting video where Bill Roth, who partners with Eco-Libris to plant trees for his books THE SECRET GREEN SAUCE and "On Empty (Out of Time), interviews Mike Dodge, President of Atomic Online, during OMMA Video Conference in San Francisco. They discuss best practices concerning women seeking green products vs. men seeking to buy green products.



(source: Environmental Leader)

I found it very interesting and learned couple of differences that are gender based like the fact that women are looking for advice and tips and are value focused whereas men likes facts and let them make the decision, or at least feel they're making it.. You'll find many more of these interesting differences in this interview so check it out.

You're are also invited to visit Bill Roth's website - Earth 2017, where you will find more interesting articles he wrote and other great green business materials. You can also find there you can get at no cost the first chapter of The Secret Green Sauce: Best practices used by actual companies successfully growing green revenues.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

What is the Secret Green Sauce? An interview with author Bill Roth

Last November we announced here on a new collaboration with Bill Roth on his new book - THE SECRET GREEN SAUCE™ : Best Practices being used by actual businesses to grow green profits. Eco-Libris is planting one tree for every copy sold! Readers will also receive with their copy our "One tree planted for this book" sticker they can put on the book (except when the purchase is made via Amazon).

This is a very interesting and recommended read for anyone who wants to get a better understanding of what is the green economy all about. Roth's book is even more important nowadays when companies begin to think of the challenges they will face in post-recession era. Therefore we decided to interview Bill Roth and learn more about his Secret Green Sauce.

Hello Bill. What is the Secret Green Sauce and what makes your recipe unique?

The “secret” is that there are actual companies growing green revenues even in this economy.

The Secret Green Sauce is the best practices (“secret sauce”) on how they grow revenues providing customers with “cost less, mean more” solutions.

The key ingredients of The Secret Green Sauce are:

1. Align value with values.

So many wonderful green companies begin with values as their focus. What market research says is price is still king in terms of consumer decision making. The successful businesses I profile have both eyes focused upon competitively pricing their sustainable products.

2. Prove it, Conclusively:

Consumers are totally confused on what to buy and who to buy from. This is a tremendous opportunity for companies that can “Prove It, Conclusively” to the customer’s satisfaction that their product is beneficial to the customer and the environment.

3. Know it, Embrace it.

Consumers are using the internet to figure out what to buy and who to buy from rather than relying upon advertising claims. They are engaged in a learning, experimentation and then procurement process. The companies I profile are marketing in a manner that aligns with, and enables, this customer process.

What brought you to write this book?

In the summer of 2009 I was attending a major national conference where I kept hearing attendees wishing there were speakers talking about how to grow green revenues. I had this “a ha!” moment where I realized that my national network of companies developed while serving as the Green Business Coach for Entrepreneur.com had the answers to this question.

From this insight I founded Earth 2017 (http://www.earth2017.com) to host free blogs and tweets cutting-edge research/results, I wrote The Secret Green Sauce to provide “how to” case study examples, I am designing a training seminar that will provide instruction on how to price, brand and market sustainability to grow revenues and, of course, I continue to provide strategic green business coaching to businesses and entrepreneurs.

In your book you write that "As early as 2017, a tipping point will occur where going green no longer means paying more." Is it still true with the failures in Copenhagen and DC to regulate carbon emissions?

Green is emerging as the least cost solution even without the needed action of governments.

Peak Everything is a great term that, while not correct in terms of classic economics, conveys the salient point that with world consumption growing faster than world supply, the prices for carbon-centric goods and services will increase dramatically.

As sustainable alternatives gain manufacturing economies of scale their price to the consumer will drop. The “tipping point” is when “unsustainability’s” price increases reach price parity with sustainability’s declining prices. My current economic analysis projects that by 2017 the price competitiveness of sustainability will support a $10 trillion annual global revenue economy!

If the U.S. government were to reflect the true cost of “unsustainability” at the pump, meter and cash register then this will accelerate things. But the key point is that the economics of supply and demand will eventually do what governments can’t seem to achieve in advancing the adoption of sustainability.

Your book is full with examples of companies that make money due to the adoption of green strategy and practices. What is your favorite one?

Amanda’s. It is maybe the first healthy fast food restaurant. But the value of Amanda’s story is that it encapsulates the entire potential of what is happening. The company’s founder is Amanda West. She has an MBA from Stanford and worked in Silicon Valley. But her passion is human health. She is a great example of the type of business pioneers that are growing green revenues. Super smart and very motivated with a strong vision that she can make a lot of money producing a positive difference.

Her restaurant has two key product characteristics critical to growing green revenues. She is price competitive and her food is truly healthy for people and the environment. I strongly encourage every business person to read Chapter Eight of The Secret Green Sauce on Amanda’s best practices. Even in these economically challenging times for restaurants, Amanda’s is achieving year over year sales increases!

You're talking in your book about the Awareness Customer that is leading the Green Economic Revolution - why do we see so many of those in surveys and so few (relatively) in reality?

One of the great misconceptions in business is that consumers are not buying green. There are two reasons for this. The first is that consumers really don’t talk about buying green. That’s why I coined the term Awareness Customer. The Millennial Generation talks about cool, interactive and their future. They buy iTunes because it is cool, interactive and it doesn’t have the emission/waste stream of CDs that includes manufacturing plastic disks, plastic/paper packaging, and truck deliveries to stores requiring heating/cooling with lots of electric lighting.

Their moms, Concerned Caregivers, talk about wellness for their loved ones. And the Sustainable CEOs (over half of the Fortune 500 companies now track their CO2 emissions) express “green” by talking about compliance along with some vague marketing appreciation that going green aligns with their customers’ values.

The second major reason is price. Except for The Millennial Generation, consumers won’t pay more for “green.” But, market research says if the price of a more sustainable product is at least equal to the price of the less sustainable product almost very consumer will buy the more sustainable product.

If going green is such a great business opportunity, why don't we see a critical mass of companies going green? What's the main obstacle here?

Price, price, price. What I started seeing this past summer was green company after green company focused upon price. Before this summer so many green companies thought their product was so valuable to the environment that customers would pay more. The maturation of green business understanding on the requirement to be price competitive is a huge step in the mass marketing of sustainability.

Do you think that the principle of "Cost Less, Mean More" can apply to every company, no matter what it sector it belongs to?

Absolutely. My favorite example is my small town (Moraga California) and one of our local Chinese restaurants. We have this little group called Sustainable Moraga that helped pioneer community use of CFLs and tote bags to carry groceries. Some of the members reached out to this wonderful restaurant owner who really wanted to grow his business and do right. They educated him on organic food.

Long story made short, last night when I picked up a to-go order he kept saying, “Too busy, too busy.” There is much more depth to this story than this brief paragraph but one key point is that if a first-generation American starting his first business can apply these best practices to the point where he is “too busy” then that says every business has a similar path toward being “too busy.”

In the book you discuss the question "Is sustainability a path for building stockholder value?" - What is your answer?

YES. Financial research is now documenting that more sustainable companies are outperforming less sustainable companies on their stock valuations by over 400 basis points (100 basis points equals 1%, so if a mortgage is 5% then it is 500 basis points).

The business principal for this result is pretty obvious based upon the best practices in The Secret Green Sauce: Sell More At Lower Costs. Chapter 7 on Increasing Stock Value explains why more sustainable companies are achieving this competitive advantage. It is a must read for every CEO and CFO.

What do you tell a company that asks your advice on how to go green? What is the first step?

Design a sustainable strategy that prices through aligning value with values, helps your customers figure out you are really green through Prove It, Conclusively branding and that reaches-out/aligns with your customer through a Know it, Embrace it marketing plan. A key tool for developing/executing such a strategy is what one of my profiled entrepreneurs calls “Getting To First Base.” It is a process that answers these two questions, “Which way to first base?” and “How do I get to first base?” This is one of the major elements of my consulting practice.

Are you still optimistic?

110%! America is in pain right now. When Americans are in pain we become highly motivated and our freedom allows us to develop innovative solutions. Laws and tax policies that support doing right would really help. But the bottom line is that America’s entrepreneurs and pioneering businesses are figuring out how to deliver “cost less, mean more” solutions that will restore our jobs, economy and environment. It’s all in The Secret Green Sauce.

Thank you, Bill!

Bill Roth, Green Business Coach for Entrepreneur.com and the founder of Earth 2017, partnered with Eco-Libris in the past to green up his important book, "On Empty (Out of Time)".He is offering a FREE 1st chapter on Earth 2017 website. The book is available for sale both in a paper and electronic versions on the website at www.earth2017.com/free-the-secret-green-sauce

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

A new book, "The Secret Green Sauce", by Bill Roth is going green with Eco-Libris

We are happy to announce on a new collaboration with Bill Roth on his new book - THE SECRET GREEN SAUCE™ : Best Practices being used by actual businesses to grow green profits.

Roth, Green Business Coach for Entrepreneur.com and the founder of Earth 2017, partnered with Eco-Libris in the past to green up his important book, "On Empty (Out of Time)".

Now he has a new and a very exciting book entitled "The Secret Green Sauce" and now we're happy to collaborate with him again, planting one tree for every copy sold! Readers will also receive with their copy our "One tree planted for this book" sticker they can put on the book.

"The Secret Green Sauce" profiles the best practices being used by actual companies to grow green revenues. Bill Roth assembled these best practices through a two-year effort of searching from and interviewing, the business pioneers who are successfully building green businesses and launching green products.

Bill Roth is offering a FREE 1st chapter on Earth 2017 website. The book is available for sale both in a paper and electronic versions on the website at www.earth2017.com/free-the-secret-green-sauce

I'm already reading it and I find it very innovative and interesting. We'll soon post here a review of the book, as well as an interview with Bill Roth on his book, so stay tuned!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

3 reading recommendations for Presidents Day

Tomorrow is Presidents Day and it's holiday for many people who will enjoy the long weekend. This is also a great opportunity to get to read something and especially things you put aside waiting for some free time..

I just had that with three articles that waited for me and I wanted to share with you and recommend them for tomorrow (or any other given day..). We got here two articles on green issues and one about books, and all of them are really interesting, so you're welcome to check it all!

Praise the Lord and Green the Roof / Joseph Huff-Hannon (New York Times, February 1, 2009)

A story about an order of Episcopal nuns who are building what will be the first "eco-convent" in New York City. This is a great example of how religion and ecology goes hand in hand, nurturing each other. Here's a part of the article that refers to this issue:

Then, about 10 years ago, the sisters began to discuss a mission to care for the environment. They may embrace environmental concerns more tightly than do many other religious orders, but it is their religion, they say, that was their bridge to a green life.

“We began talking more deeply amongst ourselves about how spirituality and ecology are linked, how we could more fully appreciate that the universe is a creation of God,” Sister Faith Margaret said, speaking in the hallways near the front door, which is lined on both sides with ferns, philodendron and other plants. “Some days I get up in the morning when the trees are about to pop, and I think, ‘How did God decide all of this?’ ”

Original URL

If you don't have a subscription to the NYT, you can find a copy of the article on this link.

Books Gone Wild: The Digital Age Reshapes Literature / Chris Jackson/Getty (Time, January 21, 2009)

How technology is changing the book market? this interesting article (thanks to Publishing Talk for the link) is analyzing the current trends in the publishing industry and tries to envision the future of this industry, where digital content and self publishing will make it a whole lot different from what we know today.

Here's a little look at the future from the article:

Not that Old Publishing will disappear--for now, at least, it's certainly the best way for authors to get the money and status they need to survive--but it will live on in a radically altered, symbiotic form as the small, pointy peak of a mighty pyramid. If readers want to pay for the old-school premium package, they can get their literature the old-fashioned way: carefully selected and edited, and presented in a bespoke, art-directed paper package. But below that there will be a vast continuum of other options: quickie print-on-demand editions and electronic editions for digital devices, with a corresponding hierarchy of professional and amateur editorial selectiveness.

The article is available at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1873122,00.html

In Beverage Industry, Sustainability Sells / Bill Roth (Entrepreneur.com, February 4, 2009)

Bill Roth (who is also collaborating with Eco-Libris) writes on the green trends in the beverage industry and where you can find green entrepreneurial opportunities there. Here's one of my favorite parts in this article about green coffees, which benefits both the coffee growers and the environment:

Here's why I have such hope for the green economic revolution: The sales for these green coffees are exploding.Rainforest Alliance Certifiedcoffee had average sales growth of 106 percent each year from 2003 through 2006. In 2007, more than 91 million pounds of Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee was sold worldwide. In the U.S., these coffees are sold by Mars Drinks, Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, Pom Wonderful and Caribou Coffee, and can be found in more than 50,000 supermarkets, convenience stores, cafes, restaurants, hotels and corporate offices worldwide.

The article can be found at www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29016166

Enjoy!
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

My Green Resolution for 2009 - Bill Roth, author of "On Empty (Out of Time)"

Today on our 2009 green resolutions and greetings series we have the pleasure to have with us Bill Roth, the author of a great book entitled "On Empty (Out of Time)".

Bill is collaborating with Eco-Libris to plant a tree for every printed copy of the book. Each book will have an Eco-Libris sticker saying "One tree planted for this book".

Hello Bill. What are your green wishes for 2009?

My dream for 2009 is that America takes world leadership in implementing the Green Economic Revolution.

This means that as individuals we reduced our consumption of gasoline, electricity, plastics and beef by 20% to achieve the UN’s target for 2020 CO2 emission reductions this year. By the way, that would put approximately $500-$1000 annually in each of our pockets!

And here’s one path for achieving this result, make Fridays your “save to gain day” by not eating red meat, buying only locally grown food, doing something other than commuting to work in your car, not consuming anything that comes in a throw away container and turning your thermostat up or down 5 degrees in the direction that will reduce energy consumption.

It means that our governments adopts energy efficiency standards for ALL buildings designed to reduce energy and water demand by 20% and will facilitate this re-engineering of our buildings by providing 30 year financing at a 3% interest rate to pay for the upgrades. This will re-stimulate our construction and manufacturing industries with millions of good paying jobs and the 3% interest rate is not a subsidy, that’s today’s interest rate on a 30 year government bond.

In my book, On Empty (out of time) I outline the fullest range of technologies and government policies that will produce Energy Independence, lower pump/meter prices and Global Warming solutions. We have the technologies and our consumers are the best in the world in adopting new technologies. What we need is only commitment, by our government and by us as American consumers.

Any green resolutions on the personal level for the 2009?

My personal green resolution is to reduce my use of plastic water bottles. The U.S. disposes of 60 million per DAY! I am switching to a metal container and filtered tap water.

And I am happy to report that I continue to implement last year’s resolution of carrying a reusable grocery bag rather than relying upon “paper or plastic” provided by the grocery store.

Thanks, Bill!

Here are more details about On Empty (Out of Time):

(from the author's website) America's final "wake-up call". Since the 1974 oil embargo we have been promised Energy Independence and lower prices. Instead we are now paying 10 times more for oil and we are importing 4 times as much.

And we are now out of time. We face a recession because of high oil prices and the military cost of protecting someone else's oil fields. And a new crisis, Global Warming, is emerging.

On Empty graphically details the imminent threat of economic and environmental disaster and proposes fresh solutions for achieving a "Man on the Moon" crash program of deploying American-owned sustainable technologies. And it outlines how you, the American Consumer, will lead the charge.

You can buy the book at http://www.onemptyroth.com.

So far on "My Green Resolution for 2009":

Vonda Schaefer of Valley Books

Madeline Kaplan, author of "Planet Earth Gets Well"

Chris Flynn of Torpedo

Edain Duguay of Wyrdwood Publications

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

An interview with Bill Roth, author of the new book 'On Empty (Out of Time)'

Bill Roth is the author of the new and important book "On Empty (Out of Time)", which readers have described as "America's final "wake-up call"" and "A must read if you want freedom from high pump prices!".

We reviewed the book at the beginning of the month and I felt afterwards that this issue is way too important and requires an interview with the author to learn more about his views and thoughts on the energy issues we're facing.

Firstly here's a little background of the author (see also photo below): Bill Roth has a solid experience in the energy sector, with a career that included posts such as senior VP of marketing and sales with PG&E Energy Services and COO of Texaco Ovonics Hydrogen Solutions. Currently he is the President of NCCT, a San Francisco-based consulting firm helping businesses define and integrate Sustainability into their strategies, performance metrics, branding/marketing and business processes.. He is also Entrepreneur.com's Green Business Coach.

Bill Roth is also collaborating with Eco-Libris to plant a tree for every copy sold, and readers gets their copy with our sticker saying "One tree planted for this book".

And now to the interview:

Can you tell us what brought you to write "On Empty"? would you describe it as a theoretic book or more of 'renewable energy for dummies' kind of book?

People are not dumb. In fact my belief in people is what motivated me to write On Empty. I believe if people are supplied with Pricing Clarity that includes the “Systems” costs tied to consumption and if they have the freedom to choose among competing fuels/technologies then they will make the right decisions. And that is what we are seeing right now in America. The Green Economic Revolution portrayed in On Empty is a grass roots, people-led, movement.

You describe the book as a "call for action" for the American consumer. What’s the actions you would like to see immediately and do you really believe that the American consumer will act accordingly?

The American consumer wants Energy Independence, they want lower pump/meter prices and they want a clean environment. They are also the world’s largest change-agent with $10 trillion of annual buying power. A key to America’s success is our system of empowering consumers by allowing them to buy “best of class” from the world’s entire inventory of goods and services. This is what must happen for America (and the world) to realize the benefits of moving from a carbon-based system to a sustainable system. And to achieve this empowerment requires two steps, Pricing Clarity at the pump/meter and removal of Barriers to Entry that now limit consumer access to sustainable solutions.

How did the U.S. got to this point where if I may quote you "we face recession and inflation as we borrow trillions of dollars to finance an energy system that we don't own, that keeps charging us higher prices and is placing our troops in harm's way"? whose fault is it - Washington? the oil companies? the American consumer? all of them?

This is a classic boiling frog situation. The story of the boiling frog is that if you throw a frog into a pot of boiling water it will jump out. If you put a frog in a pot of room temperature water and slowly bring it to a broil then the frog will die. America’s wealth allowed it to stay in the pot even as it became more and more unsustainable.

The fault is that our market system is not including in its prices at the pump and meter such societal costs as “Boots on the Ground” or Global Warming or deficit spending. And our market system has empowered legacy companies with advantages that preclude consumers from easily buying competitive alternatives. The changes that are required are systemic and their result will be a global mega-trend as dramatic in its impacts as the Information Age or Globalization.

You claim in your book that the alternative energy technologies that can benefit both our wallets and the environment are already there. So why we don't see greater use of these technologies?

Pricing and consumer access are the two elements to enabling any new technology. And achieving low pricing is tied to mass production. For example, flat-screen TVs in the United States used to be a luxury item only a few could afford. But with mass production flat-screen TVs have now achieved commodity-low prices that enable mass consumer purchasing. Enabling this move into mass production was open, global, sourcing where consumers have multiple supply-channels from which to shop and price compare.

So during the 21st Century’s first seven years flat-screen TVs have gone from cutting edge technology only a few could afford to a low priced commodity achieving approximately 50% household market penetration. This same path is open, but has yet to be realized, for sustainable technologies. Why, because carbon-based prices at the pump and meter do not include the societal costs now paid for through taxes and government financing. And because the supply chain to the consumer is blocked by legacy companies.

Which of the renewable energy alternative/s you see as the most promising one?

Here’s the absolute key point of On Empty. It doesn’t matter what I think are the best technologies or what someone in Washington DC thinks. If we introduce Pricing Clarity and remove Barriers to Entry then the consumer will answer this question. And when the American consumer figures this out with their $10 trillion of annual purchasing power we will have enabled the mass production of sustainability that will offer Energy Independence, lower pump/meter prices and a clean environment to the world.

Do you see the energy crisis you describe in the book mainly as an economic problem or a political one?

It is a systemic problem and it is global. Look, America in 1901 won the lottery when the Spindeltop oil well exploded into life in Texas. By the 1940’s our free market system enabled by Texas oil was supplying 75% of the world’s oil. The American free enterprise system engineered a carbon based world. Well, America now only has 3% of the world’s oil supply and we consume 25% of the world’s oil output.

Even worse, we now have China duplicating our unsustainable path of reliance upon oil and coal. The global system needs re-engineering into a sustainable system. And the great news is the same American enterprise system that enabled the Carbon Age has the consumer power to create a global Green Economic Revolution.

You write that this is a must read - why do you think this book is important and who do you hope will read it?

It is a must read because it explains to consumers, “us”, how we are the enabling driver in gaining Energy Independence, lower prices and a clean environment. America has tried and continues to try legislative, proscriptive, decision making. This is not what we do best. What America has is 300 million of the world’s best informed and wealthiest consumers who have driven every technology innovation the world now uses to global mass production.

The must read of this book is that the solution is empowering the American consumer, not legislation, not government investment in R&D, not tax credits or even global treaties. Just introduce Pricing Clarity and eliminate Barriers to Entry and get out of the way of the American consumer. They will do the rest of the hard lifting.

Do you hope that something will change in the way the government approach this issue after the upcoming elections in November? which one of the candidates is more preferable in terms of defining the right goals and taking action to achieve them?

The American political system is truly a marvel in the history of mankind. We now have two candidates who say Global Warming is real and we must solve it. That is a remarkable shift in just four years. I have compared their platforms and they are almost identical. Why? Because to get elected in America you have to “find that middle ground” which most American’s call “common sense.” So the good news is we have two candidates who see the problem and want to solve it. The other special aspect of Presidential history is that our Presidents have the opportunity to rise to the occasion.

Our heroes are Washington, Lincoln and the Roosevelts who inherited crisis and rose to the occasion with actions most pundits never anticipated. Whoever the next President is, this is their opportunity. They have the opportunity to move pass the lobbying by our legacy companies and enable America’s consumers to lead the world into a sustainable system.

How do you estimate the current financial crisis will influence the creation of the green economy you describe in your book? can it delay plans and investments in alternative energy?

America is at its best in a crisis. We have hit the debt wall, including the debt financing of our reliance upon imported oil. And while most American’s don’t understand all the confusing stuff being pumped out of Washington D.C. we understand the price at our gasoline pump. And that is telling us we need to find something other than gasoline to run our cars. And the increasing price at the meter is telling us we need to re-engineer our homes/offices/factories to be more energy efficient and possibly buy a renewable technology like solar.

On Empty’s chapter on BIG ANSWERS outlines the magnitude of change required to achieve sustainability. And it outlines the huge rewards for doing so. If America does rise to this challenge then in eight years we can build a sustainable and very healthy economy offering highly attractive green-collar jobs.

Are you optimistic? if the answer is yes - what's your secret? how do you do it?

I am hugely optimistic because the technology solutions are now available. That’s a major change from 1974 when OPEC enacted the oil embargo and our cars ran off of carburetors. The only thing standing between us and sustainability is Pricing Clarity at the pump/meter and removal of Barriers to Entry. And these changes will be implemented because the American consumer will demand it.

And to-date nothing has ever stopped the American consumer from buying what they want. The only issue is will our next President read On Empty and “get it” or will our country have to learn it the hard way by experiencing increasing pain at the pump/meter and from having Boots on the Ground protecting someone else’s oil field and from a financial melt-down because we can’t afford a carbon-based economy.

Do you want to add any message to our readers?

While On Empty has an American message the implementation path is, and must be, global. The American message is based upon the unique purchasing power of the American consumer and their ability to propel global change. But America is a free society that will buy solutions from anyone in the world (especially if Barriers to Entry are removed). The message of achieving Pricing Clarity and removal of Barriers to Entry is as critical to America as it is to Asia, or Europe or the Middle East. America is the consumer engine for a global Green Economic Revolution that will achieve sustainability offering the world lower prices and a cleaner environment.

On Empty's website - http://www.onemptyroth.com/

A review of the book - http://ecolibris.blogspot.com/2008/09/on-empty-by-bill-roth-mondays-green.html

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

And the winner in a copy of "On Empty" is..

Thank you for all the participants in our giveaway of the book 'On Empty (Out of Time)' by Bill Roth we reviewed last Monday.

We got many interesting comments on the debate about nuclear energy as an altenrative to the current sources of energy. This debate is far from being over, but I sure hope that policymakers will take a look at the book prior to discussing this issue. In any case, just to put things in perspective, as Bill himself mentioned in his comment, nuclear is one of seven technology paths discussed in the book.

And the winner in our giveaway is Johan Jansson, who wrote the following:

The last few days all news media are reporting about the newly discovered leak in the nuclear waste facility in Saxony, Germany: "The Asse-II mine was closed in 1964 and converted to an "experimental" nuclear facility in 1967. Now it officially holds up to 130,000 metal drums of low- and mid-level radioactive waste. But the report said highly radioactive plutonium had also been dumped in the mine, along with a number of nuclear fuel rods. Radioactivity readings there are at eight times the "safe" level, some barrels have tipped over and rusted through, and the worry is that saltwater leaking from the mine is not just radioactive but might contaminate public water supplies. The mine has been known to leak brine since 1988. Some experts fear it may collapse altogether by 2014." From Spiegel.

It is a scary world indeed. "We" are putting enormous responsibility in the hands of few, when we use nuclear power. Our over infatuation with tech fixes is scaring me the most. The only way forward is conservation. In order for this to work, understanding of human behavior is much, much more important than the next hot tech innovation. Sadly, most research money goes to the tech fixes and not to understanding consumer behavior and how it can be changed without much welfare loss.

Bill says in a comment that including the true cost will overcome some of the problems. However, economics is a subjective area more than for example nuclear research. One economist will find one cost to include, and another will not. How will we arrive at a true cost estimate for anything? I would argue that it is impossible. Thus, this cost-focus is only a very small part the solution. Perhaps the arguments for this are better explained in the book which I haven't read... yet.

Congratulations Johan! As mentioned, Eco-Libris will plant a tree for this book (as we do with every copy printed of this book) and we'll send Johan with the book our "One tree planted for this book" sticker.

And don't forget to keep following our giveaways. We have many more green books to review and give away so stay tuned (we'll have one tomorrow!).

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

Monday's Green Books: On Empty by Bill Roth (and a copy giveaway)

On Empty (Out of Time) is an energy industry veteran's take on the current sorry state of affairs of the US American dependence on oil imports, and the impending economic and ecological crises stemming from man made global warming.

As such, it joins the ranks of similarly billed books such as Washington state congressman Jay Inslee's Apollo's Fire: Igniting America's Clean Energy Economy, and Environmental Defense Fund founder Fred Krupp's Earth: The Sequel (previously featured in our green books series).

Krupp's work brought to life the alternative energy technological sector with a focus on the exciting soap operatic world of cleantech start-ups and investors, while Inslee focused on political leadership and vision. Roth's approach is different. First of all he brings to the table a solid background in the energy sector, with a career that included posts such as senior VP of marketing and sales with PG&E Energy Services, COO of Texaco Ovonics Hydrogen Solutions and president of Cleantech America, a developer of solar power plants.

Yes, Roth (http://www.cleantechgrowth.com/) is a corporate America insider and a reluctant environmentalist, whose resistances had to be overcome. These resistances fell away when they were faced with hard scientific and economic facts, and Roth now believes that global warming is here, was created by human activity, and that something can be done about it. As such, he is well worth listening to.

Numbers are something you will not be able to ignore when reading this book. Roth likes to explain the economics and goes as far as defining basic principles to the uninitiated reader, such as supply & demand, income effect, price elasticity and so on. Once he has given you the basics he begins to demonstrate each of his points with figures, facts and explanations.

Here is one of my favorites:

FACT: There is a national debate on whether our country should drill for oil in the Alaska Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The motivation to do so is based upon estimates that this area contains 4.3 to 11 billion barrels of oil... This monster-sized oil deposit only equals between 1 to 2 years of out annual imports of oil. It would only fulfill about THREE MONTHS of the world's current annual oil demands of 85 to 90 billion barrels.(p.33)

This drives home quite clearly the futility of extra drilling as any form of real solution to the energy crisis, and the frivolous way in which drilling advocates are willing to condemn the Arctics to ruination for a relatively insignificant return.

An interesting position Roth holds is in that which is in favor of renewed national interest in nuclear energy. According to Roth (p. 101), “The U.S history of nuclear-fueled electricity is an unqualified success from a consumer and environmental perspective”. He then goes on to list some facts which are sometimes quite hard to accept.

The first is that there are “no fatalities tied to nuclear power plant operations”. Having reviewed here recently Kelly McMaster's Welcome to Shirley, a memoir from a town adjacent to a nuclear research facility in Long Island, I will have to take this assertion with a grain of salt.

Another point which he makes, writing that “nuclear waste has been safely contained”, is in contrast to many views, such as Krupp's assessment of nuclear power in Earth: The Sequel. Such public debate can only benefit us and help direct research agendas and funds. I can only hope that there will be more open and widespread discussion on these topics.

Finally, Roth presents his own agenda and big solutions to the crisis at the end of the book, but I am not going to list it all here. He builds up his case over time, and it is really imperative to digest some of the economics and numbers in order to get where he's going with it and why. So I'll just say that some of his ideas are very interesting, feasible, and yet quite radical in today's political climate. But who knows, maybe next year we'll see it all take place.

Bill Roth is working with Eco-Libris to green up the book. A tree will be planted for every copy sold of the book. Buyers will also receive our sticker with their book, saying "One tree planted for this book".

Book's name: On Empty (Out of Time)

Author: Bill Roth

Publisher: Self Published (2008)

Pages: 204

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!

We will be giving away the review copy of the book. It also comes with a tree that will be planted for it with Eco-Libris and you will also recieve our "One tree planted for this book" sticker.

How you can win? please add a comment below about your thoughts on nuclear energy and whether you are in favor of wider use of this option or not. Submissions are accepted until Saturday, September 6, 12PM EST. The winner will be announced the following day.

Best,

Eylon @ Eco-Libris

Plant a Tree for Every Book you Read!

Are we out of time? Author Bill Roth is answering in a new book and collaborating with Eco-Libris!

Eco-Libris is happy to announce a new collaboration with Bill Roth, author of 'On Empty (Out of Time)'.

Bill Roth is working with Eco-Libris to green up this new green-themed book. A tree will be planted for every copy sold of the book. Buyers will also receive our sticker with their book, saying "One tree planted for this book".

We're very excited to work on this important book, which readers have described as "America's final "wake-up call"" and "A must read if you want freedom from high pump prices!". As it looks like we are running out of time with regards to the current energy sources we use and the prompt need in high , it's definitely an important book.

So what is this book all about? Here is the description of it:

On Empty (out of Time) graphically details the threat of economic and environmental disaster tied to our unsustainable addiction to fossil fuels. It proposes fresh ideas for implementing a Man on the Moon national commitment for deploying American-owned sustainable technologies that will achieve lower pump/meter prices, solve Global Warming and eliminate the need for Boots on the Ground protecting other people's oil fields. And it outlines how the American consumer, a $10 trillion a year buying force, can be empowered to vote with their pocket books for changes that their political votes have yet to achieve.

About the author: Bill Roth is Entrepreneur.com’s Green Business Coach with a regular column and he is President of NCCT (http://www.cleantechgrowth.com).

The book is already available (though the first edition was sold out!) and can be purchased at Amzon.com, http://www.onemptroth.com, http://www.cleantechgrowth.com, and on Lafayette Book Store.

If you're curious to learn more, you can read a chapter in the book right here on this link - http://onemptyroth.com/images/docs/Sample_Chapter_On_Empty_Out_of_Time.pdf. We will also review the book very soon, so stay tuned.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!